{"id":2937496,"url":"https://alion.io/job/-ao-foundation-phd-student-biomedical-materials","title":"PhD Student Biomedical Materials","company":{"id":1850019,"name":"- AO Foundation","domain":"aofoundation.org","url":"https://alion.io/company/aofoundation-org","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"SuccessFactors","truth_index":null},"role":"Early Careers","role_family":"Early Careers","seniority":"intern","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Davos, Switzerland"],"countries":["CH"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":38000,"max_usd":74000,"period":"year","method":"global_role_cell_scaled_by_country","sample_n":768},"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-22T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-22","last_verified_at":"2026-10-21T20:58:14Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":31,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":31},"description":"Short Description\nThis PhD position is part of the PREPARE project (Programmable Release of Prophylactic Antibacterial & Response Enhancing agents), a collaborative initiative between the Infection Biology and Biomedical Materials Focus Areas at the AO Research Institute Davos and CK CARE (Prof. Pierre Yves Mantel).\nThe Ph.D. student will carry out the experimental work at the AO Research Institute Davos under the supervision of Dr. Matteo D'Este in cooperation with Dr Fintan Moriarty and Prof. Pierre Yves Mantel. The formal academic affiliation will be with the University of Fribourg with supervision by Prof. Michael Walch, Department of Oncology, Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Science and Medicine at the University of Fribourg.\nFracture-related infection (FRI) remains a major clinical challenge despite current prophylactic strategies. Increasing evidence shows that early infection establishment is driven by rapid formation of Staphylococcus aureus microaggregates and transient impairment of neutrophil antibacterial function following trauma.\nThe PREPARE project aims to address this problem by:\nDefining the earliest events enabling bacterial survival in the surgical field (aggregate formation, fibrin encapsulation, antibiotic tolerance)\nIdentifying small-molecule immunomodulators that enhance neutrophil antibacterial activity\nContributing to the development of next-generation responsive biomaterials for localized infection prevention\nMain Responsibilities\nDevelop a hydrogel responsive to degrading enzymes for on demand release:\nIdentify and select a linker sequence susceptible to enzymatic degradation by neutrophil-secreted enzymes with high specificity, synthetic accessibility, and suitability for subsequent conjugation to hyaluronan.\nDevelop and optimize a di-telechelic crosslinker for hyaluronan hydrogel formation and characterize the resulting gels using NMR, FT-IR, and rheology.\nDemonstrate enzyme-triggered hydrogel degradation in vitro by monitoring changes in gel properties through rheological analysis.\nEvaluate the release kinetics of model compounds from the hydrogel using UV spectroscopy or HPLC to assess controlled release performance.\nIncorporate small molecule immunomodulators into the hydrogel:\nEstablish robust covalent ligation or encapsulation strategies to load selected immunomodulators into the hydrogel while preserving their biological activity.\nDevelop and characterize hyaluronan-bound small molecule immunomodulator systems, including covalent tethering and enzymatic responsive designs, to prevent diffusion-driven release while enabling enzyme-triggered exposure of modulators.\nEngineer enzymatically-responsive core-shell microparticles with a core rich of immunomodulators and hyaluronan-based shell to achieve controlled, enzyme-triggered release from micron-scale delivery vehicles.\nEvaluate functional performance of the loaded hydrogel:\nThis task will be carried out in close collaboration with the infection biology group at ARI.\nAssess neutrophil-triggered hydrogel degradation, release kinetics, and material properties, and determine the biological efficacy of the released modulators using in vitro neutrophil assays relevant to early postoperative infection.\nCarrying out this project, the successful candidate will:\nApply advanced biomaterials synthesis and characterization techniques \nAnalyse and interpret complex experimental datasets\nReport the results to colleagues and present at local and international conferences\nContribute to interdisciplinary collaboration with infection biology specialist in ARI within the PREPARE project\nMain Requirements\nMaster’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences, chemistry, biomaterials science/engineering or related discipline\nExceptional drive and commitment to carry out a highly demanding and rewarding research project\nExcellent communication skills in English\nAbility to design, plan, and execute experimental studies independently\nStrong interest in biomaterials science, innate immunity, and translational research\nMotivation to work in a highly interdisciplinary and collaborative environment\nInterest in translational research and orthopaedic device related infection and microbiology \nAdditional desirable skills:\nPractical experience in polymers derivatization, and the preparation/characterization of soft biomaterials \nPractical experience in preparation of micro- or nano- particles based delivery systems\nExperience with tissue cell culture and immunological assays \nExperience working with primary immune cells, especially neutrophils\nFamiliarity with 3D cell/tissue culture \nDuration of the position: 4 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Clinics"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-20T16:29:43Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":43,"band":"fade","label":"Fading","p_open":1,"p_active":0.58,"p_room":0.75,"age_days":31,"expected_fill_days":34,"reasons":["conf:32","velocity","win:late","comp:junior"],"computed_at":"2026-10-23T05:54:15Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/-ao-foundation-phd-student-biomedical-materials","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/-ao-foundation-phd-student-biomedical-materials.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-23T07:21:06Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per 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